Battle of Tafas

The Battle of Tafas (296 BC) was a battle of the Wars of the Diadochi fought between the Seleucid Empire and Ptolemaic Empire. The Seleucids were victorious due to their use of war elephants against the Ptolemaic army.

Battle
A Ptolemaic army of 747 troops under Akhaenniut of Arish invaded southern Syria, a province of the Seleucid Empire, where they engaged an army of 775 Seleucid troops under Parmenion of Hamah that defended the province. The Egyptian army was mainly Nile Spearmen, with Akhaenniut riding on a chariot. The Seleucids had some Indian war elephants in addition to some chariots, while their infantry were all phalanx spearmen.

The Seleucids formed a phalanx, and when the Egyptian infantry advanced, they attacked the center of the Seleucid line, facing bristly phalanxes. The Seleucid flank phalangists and the legionnaries on the flanks charged to the center and attacked the Egyptians, while their chariots on their left flank and elephants on their right flank charged the Egyptians and killed many of their spearmen. The Egyptians retreated many times, but each time that they regrouped, they were swamped with numbers. Eventually, only the general remained, and he led the elephants on a wild goose chase before one of his chariots was destroyed, causing him to flee. The battle was a Seleucid victory, and the Egyptian invasion was defeated.